When I first started the master’s Library Media and Technology program at OSU, my primary goal was to share my love of reading and literature with others. I felt that the best way to do this would be to be a librarian. After completing the library media program, I still want to share my love of reading and literature with others, but this primary goal has been replaced by another: teaching others, specifically students, how to be life-long learners and critical thinkers.
My course work throughout this program has taught me numerous lessons, but I feel that the most important and most relevant lesson is the importance of being a life-long learner and critical thinker. Through the coursework in my graduate program, I feel that I have grown as a life-long learner and thinker, and I have also learned how to continue to do so, even after my coursework is over. In other words, my education will not stop outside the walls of OSU. I have been taught how to a life-long learner and thinker, and my goal now, as a future library media specialist, is to teach my future students, and any faculty, administrators, and community members that I may work with the same lesson. All my other goals for being an efficient and effective library media specialist also fit under this goal.
In addition to this ultimate goal, I have several minor goals for myself as a library media specialist. Some of these goals include:

o Continuing my growth as a professional educator through continued professional development workshops and lectures (such as those offered through OSU)

o Continuing my growth as a professional educator through the reading of professional literature such as educational journals, newsletters, and books

o Collaborating with other teachers in other subject areas through various curriculum alignment programs and units, such as the Holocaust Curriculum Unit I created in my Matrix assignment in my Administrations class

o Collaborating with members of the community through continued public relations programs such as an up-to-date website and informational flyers

o Integrating more information and technology skills into my lesson plans while I am still a teacher, and then later, when I become a library media specialist, continuing this integration by assisting teachers with their lesson plans


All in all, my coursework at OSU has helped me grow as a professional educator, and it has taught me the importance continuing my education. I am excited about the future, and I know that as I strive to achieve all of my minor goals, I will be furthering my own skills as a life-long learner and thinker too.